Councillor questions ministry disclosure of school mergers

A Christchurch city councillor wants the council to question whether the Ministry of Education misled it over its plans to close and merge Canterbury schools.

Glenn Livingtone wants the council to write to Education Minister Hekia Parata asking why it wasn't told about the ministry's plans to shake up the Canterbury education system at the earliest possible opportunity.

Shortly before the first announcement of the shake-up, in August last year, the ministry told the council it had plans to invest in the region's education system.

Mr Livingtone says during talks about the investment the ministry said nothing about the forthcoming closures and mergers.